There are reports of up to 2,000 people protesting in front of parliament at this very moment, voicing dissatisfaction with, among other things, a recent parliamentary vote that saw three of four ministers recommended for facing charges of negligence escaping any charges.
As the fall session of parliament convened today, the mood was far from peaceful. What began as a few dozen protesters quickly grew to over 2,000 by mid-day as people descended on the area. Vísir reports that while many members of parliament attended services, as per tradition, at the national cathedral, Leftist-Green MPs Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Árni Þór Sigurðsson, as well as Social Democrat MP Mörður Árnason joined the protestors.
A rock thrown broke a window in the cathedral, and as MPs emerged from the church, eggs were thrown. Many legislators had to enter parliament through the back door. Social Democrat MP Guðbjartur Hannesson was struck by an egg.
Protesters are still assembled there now, banging pots and pans, some blowing whistles and even vuvuzelas. And while many are protesting the aforementioned parliamentary vote, many more are protesting what they see as a lack of activity in trying to improve the economic situation of the Icelandic household.
The weather is predicted to be good for the rest of the day, so there is little indication that protests will calm down any time soon. At the time of this writing, many more are already descending upon parliament.
(Photo: Protests in late 2008/early 2009 drove the previous government from power.)